Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Magnetism governs properties of iron-based superconductors
Though a year has passed since the discovery of a new family of high-temperature superconductors, a viable explanation for the iron-based materials' unusual properties remains elusive. But a team of...
Supercooled Silicon: Liquid-liquid Phase Transition In Silicon Confirmed
Using rigorous computer calculations, researchers have established evidence that supercooled silicon experiences a liquid-liquid phase transition, where at a certain temperature two different states of liquid silicon exist. The two...
Record long platinum nanowires: An advance toward better fuel cells
Researchers from New York are reporting production of the longest platinum nanowires ever made - an advance that they say could speed development of fuel cells for cars, trucks, and...
Making Wood A Clean, Efficient Energy Source With New Process
Is wood the new coal? Some researchers now think so, and they working to turn woodchips into a substitute for coal by using a process called torrefaction that is greener,...
Paper Electrified By Copper Particles
Scientists have succeeded in producing nano-sized metallic copper particles. When the size of particles is reduced to a nano-scale (one nanometer being one billionth of a meter), the properties of...
French physicist earns Templeton Prize
PARIS, March 17 (UPI) -- French physicist Bernard d'Espagnat has won the $1.4 million Templeton Prize for his theory of alternative realities.
Dancing 'adatoms' help chemists understand how water molecules split
Single oxygen atoms dancing on a metal oxide slab, glowing brighter here and dimmer there, have helped chemists better understand how water splits into oxygen and hydrogen. In the process,...
Crisis hampers EU wind power in short-term: lobby
MARSEILLE (Reuters) - The economic downturn is delaying wind power projects in the European Union but the negative impact will not last because of strong sector fundamentals, a European wind...
NRL researchers report a forceful new method to sensitively detect proteins
Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) recently reported the detection of toxins with unprecedented speed, sensitivity, and simplicity. The approach can sense as few as a few hundred molecules...
Electronic Amplifier Capable Of Functioning In Extreme Temperatures Developed
Missions to space require "warm" boxes, which protect electronic circuitry from extreme temperatures and exposure to radiation. Electrical engineering researchers have now designed and successfully tested an electronic micro amplifier...
New Super-bouyant Material: Life Preserver Might Float A Horse
Researchers in China are reporting the development of miniature super-bouyant boats that float so well that an ordinary life preserver made from the same material might support a horse without...
Nova Scotia Power to invest in wind energy
The government of Nova Scotia plans to revise rules that bar Nova Scotia Power from investing in wind power companies, in hopes of helping the utility reach its green energy...
Black Sea Pollution Could Be Harnessed As Renewable Future Energy Source
The Black Sea harbors vast quantities of hydrogen sulfide, the toxic gas associated with the smell of rotten eggs. This noxious gas could be used as a renewable source of...
The Physics of Animals, Plants and Materials Inspired by Nature: APS March Meeting
Take a new look at nature through the eyes of physicists at next month's March Meeting of American Physical Society (APS), which takes place from March 16-20, 2009 at the...
MIT Battery Material Could Lead To Rapid Recharging Of Many Devices
MIT engineers have created a kind of beltway that allows for the rapid transit of electrical energy through a well-known battery material, an advance that could usher in smaller, lighter...
Mini-boats are 'strongest ever'
Super-buoyant metals used to make postage stamp-sized boats could one day be the basis of "aquatic robots"
Spinning Carbon Nanotubes Spawns New Wireless Applications
Scientists have discovered new uses by spinning carbon nanotubes into longer fibers with additional useful properties. Researchers have found that carbon nanotube threads work well as an antenna because of...
New organic material may speed Internet access
The next time an overnight snow begins to fall, take two bricks and place them side by side a few inches apart in your yard. In the morning, the bricks will...
Scientists aim to replicate the sun
LIVERMORE, Calif., March 15 (UPI) -- Scientists in California say they're trying to replicate the power of the sun by firing laser beams at a tiny pellet of...
Opinion: Time for the clean nuclear energy option
Thorium molten salt reactors have the potential to provide a safe, clean and cheap nuclear solution to the energy crisis, writes Elling Disen.
First Measurement Of The Ability Of A Very Long Molecular Wire To Conduct Electric Current
For the first time, researchers have measured the ability of a single, very long molecular wire to carry electric current. Until now, there were only statistical measurements on a collection...
Instant Control For Laser Welding
A novel camera system has 25,000 processors integrated in its pixels which work together to analyze images the instant they are taken -- over ten times faster than a computer....
Dispatches: In Staten Island, Harnessing the Wind
A wind turbine, the only freestanding wind power generator in the city, provides energy for a Staten Island community’s streetlights and sewage system.
Harnessing the Sun, With Help From Cities
Cities like Palm Desert, Calif., lobbied to change state laws so that solar power systems could be financed like gas lines, covered by a loan from the city and secured...
Nanocups brim with potential
HOUSTON -- (March 13, 2009) -- Researchers at Rice University have created a metamaterial that could light the way toward high-powered optics, ultra-efficient solar cells and even cloaking devices. Naomi Halas,...
Ion beam experiments for materials
Three new experimental units for conducting materials research are being inaugurated today at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt. The units have been set up alongside...
Chemists Find Secret To Increasing Luminescence Efficiency Of Carbon Nanotubes
Chemists have found a way to greatly increase the luminescence efficiency of carbon nanotubes by wrapping them in a chemical "sleeve" to reduce exterior defects caused by chemically absorbed oxygen...
Quantum dots and nanomaterials: Ingredients for better lighting and more reliable power
Imagine flexible lighting devices manufactured by using printing techniques. Imagine solar power sources equally as reliable and as portable as any conventional power source.